COURIER L 52 IFE, FEB. 22–28, 2019 M BR B G
NYC WORKS
CELEBRATING LABOR
IN THE BIG APPLE
32BJ SEIU president Hector Figueroa had hoped to unionize Amazon’s HQ2 campus once its established,
but the opportunity, along with thousands of jobs, is now gone. Courtesy of 32BJ SEIU
AMAZON
tunity for Queens and New York on
many levels. Of course, the loss of
25,000 direct jobs and many more
indirect ones as well as the billions
in revenue that the project was expected
to bring into our city is unfortunate.”
“For labor however, this is also a
missed opportunity to engage one of
the largest companies in the world
and to create a pathway to union
representation for one of the largest
groups of predominantly non-union
workers in our country,” he added.
But Figueroa, who led the seven
year campaign in which airport
workers marched, held sit-ins and
rallies, and committed civil disobedience
such as shutting down the
94th Street Bridge approach to La-
Guardia Airport in their fight for
dignity and economic justice, will
continue to fight.
“As a labor union with members
in 11 states and Washington D.C.,
32BJ will continue to advocate for
family sustaining, union jobs and
our union is committed to organizing
with working people in New York
and other states across the country,”
Figueroa said. “We remain supportive
of the many efforts to unionize
workers in New York, where Amazon
will still have thousands of yetto
be unionized employees who could
benefit from union wages, benefits
and representation. Union jobs remain
the most effective pathway to
the middle class for working people
in America.”
Gary LaBarbera, the president
of the Building and Construction
Trades Council of Greater New York,
said he was stunned by the “unfortunate
news” after the corporation
had promised to use all-union construction
at the HQ2 campus, providing
at least 5,000 jobs building its
4 million-square-foot complex with
an opportunity to expand to 8 million
square feet.
LaBarbera lamented not just the
union jobs however, but the loss of
the 25,000 to 40,000 jobs the HQ2
campus would have provided.
“Politics and pandering have
won out over a once-in-a-lifetime investment
in New York City’s economy,
bringing with it tens of thousands
of solid middle class jobs,”
LaBarbera said. “This sends the
wrong message to businesses all
over the world looking to call New
York home. Who will want to come
now? We will remember which
legislators forgot about us and
this opportunity.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by email
at bparry@schnepsmedia.com
or by phone at (718) 260–4538.
Continued from page 51
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